Blood, Sweat, and Hanon - A Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction

Chapter Three - Will

Will's lack of belongings lends itself to a quick, efficient unpacking. It only takes a few minutes for him to put his clothes into the dresser drawers. His school supplies and sheet music go on the desk, and he makes the loft bed successfully with only a minimal amount of cussing involved.

Orientation isn't until after dinner. Most of the other students have auditions before dinner. Pretty much all other instruments other than piano have a major ensemble, like orchestra for strings and band for brass and wind. Even the vocalists have choir. 

Piano is different. Since they don't have an ensemble placement audition, administration places them with their teachers based off of the audition video they sent in with their applications. That means Will doesn't have anything to do before dinner.

His thoughts wander to the pretty girl he met in front of the conservatory. Alyss. The name is old-fashioned, yet it suits her in some way. She's grave and reserved, but smiles easily. She is taller than average, but carries herself easily and gracefully. She seems organized and in control of her life, yet she had to run to avoid being late to something. She confuses Will, he admits to himself. She doesn't make any sense.

Will supposes he'll be seeing more of her around. He doesn't even know what instrument she is. Something about her intrigues him and makes him want to get to know her. Maybe if I'm lucky, he thinks, she'll be a pianist and in my teacher's studio. That would make it easy. Chances are, though, that she's a completely different instrument. Like...bagpipes, or something.

The thought makes him snort. Somehow he can't imagine tall, elegant Alyss playing the bagpipes.

Will's stomach rumbles, and he decides to track down the dining hall. He remembers Horace mentioning dinner, and while Will hopes not to run into the bigger boy, at least eating is something to do. And if he's done early, he might get a good seat at orientation.

He grabs his room key off the desk and heads out the door, locking it behind him. The dorm building is dead quiet now, as most of the other students are at the Conservatory for auditions. Will's journey downstairs and outside is much easier than his original journey in.

He's halfway across the quad before he realizes has absolutely no idea which way the dining hall is. Disheartened, he sits down on the front steps of Oak and tries to figure out a plan. Maybe if he goes back to the Conservatory, he can get directions from someone there.

A voice behind Will startles him out of his thoughts. "Are you piano, too?"

Will whirls around to find a tall, scruffy boy standing at the top of the steps, grinning at him.

"Yep," Will says, nodding.

"Cool," the other boy says. "I'm Gilan Davidson."

"Will Treaty."

"Are you new here?" Gilan asks.

"First day and counting," Will says.

Gilan gives him a thumbs up. "How's it going so far?"

Will shrugs. "Okay, I guess. I really like one of my roommates."

"And the other?" Gilan asks. He laughs at the face Will makes.

Will changes the subject. "What year are you?" he asks.

"I'm a senior," Gilan says. "But this is my third year here. I transferred at the beginning of my sophomore year from Whitby School of the Arts in Meric. What about you?"

"Junior," Will says. "And a hungry one, at that. Which way's the dining hall?"

Gilan laughs, and gives him an easy hand to his feet. "Come on, Will. Let's go find the food."

Will follows him back along the sidewalk towards the Conservatory, but before they get to the massive red brick building, Gilan takes a left, heading towards the next building over. He holds the door for Will, and pauses once they get inside.

"Welcome to the RC Dining Hall!" he says dramatically, flinging his arms out.

Will snorts. "Thanks, Gilan," he says.

The food smells coming from inside are fantastic. Will gets the feeling this isn't like most high school cafeterias. 

Gilan grabs a tray and gets in line, giving Will a quick rundown of the food options. "Grill line starts here, pizza's over there. Salad's thataway. Desserts are on the far side - definitely don't skip that. Tell you what, Will, I'll find you after we have our food. We can sit together."

"Cool!" Will says with some feeling. He'd been dreading sitting by himself.

Will ends up with two slices of pepperoni pizza and a small salad, as well as a luscious-looking double chocolate brownie. Gilan nods approvingly when he sees Will's choices.

"We are alike in spirit, my friend," he says solemnly. They both crack up.

Gilan leads Will to a small table in the corner. They sit, and dig into their food. Will takes a bite of the pizza and closes his eyes in contentment. For lack of a better term, this pizza is amazing.

Gilan laughs at Will. "You like, my friend?"

Will nods emphatically, his mouth full. "I like very much," he says.

"So Will, who'd you get for your teacher?" Gilan asks a few minutes later.

Will swallows his mouthful of pizza and takes a sip of his Dr. Pepper. "Halt O'Carrick?" he says. "I don't know much about him. I'd never heard of him before I got the acceptance letter."

Gilan's face lights up. "You got Halt! Cool! Your audition video must have been fantastic. Halt doesn't let very many people into his studio."

Gilan's opinion of Halt is so radically different from Horace's earlier remarks that it thoroughly confuses Will. "Really?" he says.

"Yeah," Gilan says. "I was so excited when I got in."

"What's he like?" Will asks, after another mouthful of pizza. He chews, then swallows. "I have to admit, I'd never heard of him. And I couldn't find much on him. Just a few old recordings."

Gilan takes a bite of his burger and a moment to consider Will's question before he answers. "Yeah, he's a bit of a hermit in the musical world. How to explain Halt? Hmm, that's a hard one. Halt is a hard taskmaster and hard to get along with, but once you get past his grouchy exterior, you'll find him an incredible teacher. Don't let his grumpiness put you off. On the inside, he's really a big softy."

"Okay, then. I should have an interesting first lesson in a few days."

Gilan's eyes light up. "Oh yeah, you will. I wish I could see it."

Will looks at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Gilan says nonchalantly. He finishes off his burger and reaches for his brownie.

Will gets the idea Gilan knows something he doesn't.